If you’ve got a problem with Superman II being my all-time favourite Superman movie, then perhaps you’d care to step outside?

It may be tantamount to cinephile heresy but let me state, for the record, proudly and entirely unrepentantly that I much prefer the theatrical cut of SUPERMAN II (today celebrating the 40th Anniversary of its UK release) to any of the alternatives, even the fascinating but ultimately unworkable Donner Cut.

Looking back, there are enormous parallels between what happened to SUPERMAN II and what happened to 2017’s JUSTICE LEAGUE. Both feature a profound falling out over creative differences between the studio/ producers and the director, resulting in the original director being fired (whatever face-savingly sensitive reasons were given at the time, Warners were absolutely gearing up to fire Snyder) and a new director being brought in to reshoot scenes, re-edit the picture and generally lighten the tone with more humour. The difference, I guess, is that in 1981, it was not only the right decision but a critically and commercially successful one.

When Superman foils a botched terrorist attack in Paris, the thermonuclear bomb he hurls into the safe emptiness of space casuses the Phantom Zone to shatter, freeing a vengeful General Zod (Terance Stamp) and his loyal followers Ursa (Sarah Douglas) and Non (Jack O’Halloran). Meanwhile, on Earth, Lois Lane has discovered Superman’s secret identity, leading our hero to make a fateful choice beyween being Kal-El or being Clark Kent.

The repercussions of the various fall-outs during the production of SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE would have profound effects on not just SUPERMAN II but SUPERMAN III as well. Brando’s lawsuit against the Salkinds resulted in Jor-El being entirely excised from the finished sequel, his expositionary place being taken largely by Susanna York reprising her role as Lara, Kal-El’s mother. Likewise, Hackman – always a reluctant Lex Luthor (although how we reconcile that with SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE is anybody’s guess) – refused to come back from any of the required reshoots forcing stand-in director Richard Lester to shoot around his absence using stand-ins and body doubles where necessary. Kidder, too, had been outspoken about the Salkind’s treatment of Richard Donner but given Lois’ centrality to the story, her retribution would have to wait until SUPERMAN III when her character was unceremoniously written out to the extent that contractual obligations allowed and replaced by Lana Lang (Annette O’Toole).

Of course part of the reason the Donner Cut of SUPERMAN II doesn’t really work is that we’re not really sure what the Donner Cut of SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE would have been. Veteran director Richard Lester – the very definition of a safe pair of hands, almost the Ron Howard of the era – wisely uses the opening credits to recap much of the first movie after, of course, the obligatory restaging of Zod’s trial with Brando now conspicuously absent. Brando, however, makes a brief appearance – or at least his hand does – picking up the green Kryptonian memory crystal that will prove so pivotal during the movie to follow. Ken Thorne is credited as the film’s composer but he largely gets by rinsing and repeating Williams’ original irreplaceable themes.

Despite the difficulty in getting some of the cast back, nearly everyone gets more to do this time around, including Lex Luthor. Ironically for a film where he gives up his powers, it feels like Superman has more screen time here than Clark Kent does. Lois is much more involved in the action throughout and, of course, there’s the imperious Tereance Stamp chewing the scenery throughout.

For the first hour or so, the two storylines run in parallel, with Clark and Lois’ romance running obliviously alongside the conquering of Earth by Zod (he really needs to get a TV or at least a radio in the Fortress of Solitude although now I’m older I absolutely get why he doesn’t). Lester manages to make SUPERMAN II more action packed than the first film and yet still save his big confrontation for the latter half of the film. The Paris sequence is great fun – and an opportunity to spot a very young Richard Griffiths as a clumsy terrorist, while Zod’s emergence and journey to The White House gives opportunities for cameos by the late, great Shane Rimmer and, of course, Clifton James rewarming his Sherriff J W Pepper schtick.

There’s not a moment of this film I don’t adore. Paris, Niagara, the Moon, Metropolis, The Fortress Of Solitude. Maybe part of the appeal is nostalgia, because right about the time it came out, SUPERMAN II was second only to STAR WARS in my affections and I still have the 1982 Superman annual to this day.

SUPERMAN II was and remains the quintessential rebuke to the idea that you can’t have a lighthearted and optimistic approach to Superman and still have real stakes and real drama. The fight in Metropolis is a fantastic mix of action, effects and oh-so-of-their-time bystander comedy bits. It’s also the point where cinema gets one of the most quintessentially Superman moments ever – one which has long haunted the current incarnation of the character – when Superman deliberately takes the fight out of the city to prevent any more collateral damage and civilian casualties.

The follow-up fight in the Fortress Of Solitude is more of a mixed bag, though, with some weird new powers being exhibited by all four Kryptonians and, of course, the notorious disoolving cellophane ‘S-Shield’. Try as you might, it’s much harder to reconcile them as being visual metaphors like the finale of the first movie when he travels so fast he goes back in time, respresented on screen by the appearance of reversing the Earth’s rotation, but goofy as they are, they’re played entertainingly enough that you’d have to be particularly jaded to get worked up about it.

It’s all worth it, anyway, for that moment when Kal-El kneels before Zod and takes his hand only to crunch those fingers like a bunch of breadsticks. The sound effect used is one of the core memories of my movie-watching childhood, a Foley Artist triumph up there with anything Ben Burtt did for Star Wars.

It’s all good, clean, comic-book family fun and its gentle innocence (and of-its-time obliviousness to the more problematic elements of that memory-erasing kiss) may, when compared to today’s gritty dark blockbusters seem, to some, a defect but it’s a purity that should be cherished, especially now. SUPERMAN II is a Superman I can and want to believe in, a timeless symbol of truth, justice, and a quasi-mythical American way from a time before the American Dream became an international nightmare. I’m not here to try and make a case for it being the best Superman movie (although it comes close), but it’s definitely my favourite and I can’t see that ever changing. I’ve never loved any movies like the ones I loved when I was eight. Jesus, does anyone?

superman ii review
Score 10/10
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Rodney Twelftree
Rodney Twelftree
3 years ago

Yes. Superman II is my Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade of Superman movies. It’s not as good as the original but it’s my favourite of the bunch.